LOCATION WATEREE SC+GA NC VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Wateree sandy loam on a 12 percent slope; planted pines. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and common medium roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 9 inches thick)
Bw1--3 to 13 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and common medium roots; few fine flakes of mica; 1 percent quartz gravel; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bw2--13 to 22 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy loam; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; common fine flakes of mica; 10 percent quartz gravel; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 5 to 21 inches)
C--22 to 27 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), yellowish red (5YR 5/6), and white (5YR 8/1) sandy loam; massive; friable; many fine flakes of mica; 4 percent quartz gravel; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cr--27 to 54 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), red (2.5YR 4/8), strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), yellowish red (5YR 5/6), and white (5YR 8/1) saprolite that crushes to sandy loam; massive; friable; many fine flakes of mica; 4 percent quartz gravel in crushed material; few fine and medium roots in small cracks with many distinct clay films; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
R--54 inches; white granite bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Fairfield County, South Carolina; 11.5 miles north of Ridgeway; 4.2 miles east of junction of U. S. Highway 21 and State Highway 41; 33 miles west of junction of State Highways 317 and 101 on unpaved road; 400 feet north of unpaved road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 14 to 30 inches. Depth to the paralithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is 40 to more than 60 inches. Content of coarse fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent throughout. The A and B horizons are very strongly acid to moderately acid, and the C or Cr horizon is extremely acid to moderately acid.
The A horizon has a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Value also ranges to 3 in pedons with A horizons less than 6 inches thick. The A horizon is loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles in shades of brown or yellow range from none to common. It commonly is coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction, but thin layers of loamy sand or sandy clay loam are in some pedons.
The C horizon, where present, or Cr horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 6 or 8, or it is mottled in shades of brown, yellow, white, and black. Texture of the C horizon is sand, fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. The Cr horizon is weathered rock material that crushes to one of the above textures.
COMPETING SERIES: (This section not revised) These are Ashlar and Beulah series in the same family, and the Louisburg series. Ashlar soils have a lithic contact within 40 inches. Beulah soils are formed in stratified loamy and sandy sediments and occur as natural levees bordering former channels of the Mississippi River. Louisburg soils have a discontinuous Bt horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wateree soils are on sloping to very steep side slopes of the Piedmont. Slopes commonly are 10 to 25 percent but range from 2 to 95 percent. The soil formed in material weathered mostly from granite and gneiss. The average annual precipitation ranges from 46 to 60 inches, the mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 65 degrees F., and the frost-free season ranges from 200 to 220 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Ashlar series and Durham, Helena, Pacolet, Rion, Vance, and Wedowee series. All of these soils have more than 18 percent clay in the control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: The majority of this soil is in woodland. The dominant trees are loblolly and shortleaf pine and mixed hardwood. Cultivated areas are primarily used for pasture or hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont area of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fairfield County, South Carolina; 1977.
REMARKS: These soils were previously included in the Louisburg series. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to 3 inches (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - the zone from 3 to 22 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Paralithic contact - weathered bedrock at 27 inches (Cr horizon)
REVISED: RLV 12/3/97
MLRA = 136
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation SC0091 WATEREE 2- 95 59- 65 200-220 46- 60 350- 700 SC0153 WATEREE 2- 95 59- 65 200-220 46- 60 350- 700SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness SC0091 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 20-40 SOFT SC0153 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 20-40 SOFT
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- SC0091 0- 3 LS LFS 0- 5 75- 95 2-15 1- 2 SC0091 0- 3 SL FSL 0- 5 75- 98 5-18 1- 3 SC0091 3-22 COSL SL 0- 5 75- 95 5-18 1- 3 SC0091 22-27 S LS SL 0- 5 65- 98 2-15 1- 2 SC0091 27-54 WB - - - - SC0091 54-64 UWB - - - - SC0153 0- 3 GR-LS GR-LFS 0- 5 65- 85 2-15 1- 2 SC0153 0- 3 GR-SL GR-FSL 0- 5 65- 85 5-18 1- 3 SC0153 3-22 GR-COSL GR-SL 0- 5 65- 85 5-18 1- 3 SC0153 22-27 GR-S GR-LS GR-SL 0- 5 65- 85 2-15 1- 2 SC0153 27-54 WB - - - - SC0153 54-58 UWB - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll SC0091 0- 3 4.5- 6.0 .5-1. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0091 0- 3 4.5- 6.0 .5-1. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0091 3-22 4.5- 6.0 0.-.5 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0091 22-27 3.6- 6.0 0.-.5 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0091 27-54 - - - - SC0091 54-64 - - - - SC0153 0- 3 4.5- 6.0 .5-1. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0153 0- 3 4.5- 6.0 .5-1. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0153 3-22 4.5- 6.0 0.-.5 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0153 22-27 3.6- 6.0 0.-.5 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0153 27-54 - - - - SC0153 54-58 - - - -